Woods still has ‘fire’ to compete amid injuries

Tiger Woods says the “fire still burns to compete” but he remains sidelined by injury heading into 2025.

Woods, a 15-time major-winner, has not played since The Open in July where he failed to make the cut for the third consecutive major.

While the last few years have seen the American blighted by injuries, the 48-year-old remains focused on a competitive return.

“I’m not tournament sharp yet, I’m still not there,” said Woods.

“When I’m ready to compete and play at [the top] level, then I will.

“The fire still burns to compete. The difference is the recovery of the body to do it is not what it used to be.”

Woods’ most recent setback has been because of back issues that have spread, causing pain in his legs.

In September, Woods had back surgery for the sixth time, two months on from his last outing at Royal Troon.

“I didn’t think my back was going to go like it did this year,” added Woods, speaking at the Hero World Challenge event he hosts in the Bahamas.

“It was quite painful throughout the end of the year, and hence I had another procedure done to it to alleviate the pain I had going down my leg.

“I feel like I’m getting stronger, I’m getting more pliable, but I’ve got a long way to go to be able to compete against these guys.”

Before the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York, it has been suggested that players on the United States’ team could receive money to play in the competition.

In its 97-year history, players have never received money for playing for their respective teams.

Woods believes players should each receive a fee of $5,000,000 (£3,900,000), a figure significantly higher than what has been touted. However, he hopes players would opt to give that money to charity.

“Going back to my playing days we had the same conversation back in 1999,” said Woods.

“We didn’t want to get paid. We wanted to give more money to charity, [but] the media turned it round against us and said we wanted to get paid.

“The Ryder Cup makes so much money, why can’t we allocate it to various charities?

“I hope they [USA’s players] get five million dollars each and donate it all to different charities. I think that’s great. What’s wrong with that?

“It’s so hard to get on to that team – there are only 12 guys. What’s wrong with being able to allocate more funds?”